OLX Fraudster Gang Caught by the FIA
OLX Fraudster Gang Caught by the FIA
OLX, while being a great platform for selling and buying stuff, has become host to multiple fraudulent gangs. These gangs rob or con people by making some offers which are difficult to turn down.
One such gang has been apprehended during a joint raid by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).
Details about the Case
The gang operated by putting up bogus car ads on OLX website. The group consisted of five people, with three of them have been identified as Azam Rahman Butt, Irfan Bashir and Muneer Khan.
The FIA officials stated that the suspects hailed from Punjab but were operating in Karachi for the past 12 months. During that time, the suspects allegedly cheated hundreds of people. “They [gang members] used to fix cheap prices for their cars that attracted buyers,” said an FIA official. “They took the buyer to a car showroom in the city and locked the deals there by demanding prices much lower than the market rates. After finalizing the deal, they took 10% to 20% as down-payment and then vanished.”
The official said that all linked car showroom owners were investigated and they weren’t even aware of the group that was using their premises for such a dastardly act. The showroom staff took the gang and the OLX buyers as potential customers. However, the OLX buyers used to come again looking for a refund of their payment, alleging that the showroom had taken a down-payment.
An official of the FIA’s Cybercrime team shared that the CPLC received a complaint from one of the affected people. The CPLC then forwarded the case to FIA, which identified and caught the culprits with the help of CCTV footage from a bank and a bank account linked with the deceitful act.
FIA officials said that the suspects were arrested in separate operations. Two were caught from Korangi, while two were apprehended in Surjani and one was nabbed from Liaquatabad. Cases have been registered against all the suspects and further investigation was underway to get more information regarding the gang’s activities in the past.
OLX and any such platforms which offer users to buy and sell stuff are never safe. Direct contact between the buyer and seller often puts both of them at risk. Therefore, it is advised to clarify everything beforehand and only meet once when completing the transaction. Of course, meeting in a public place is a must if possible. Anybody who wishes to perform transactions via OLX should first read through these helpful security guidelines or report any suspicious ads they find.
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